Posts Tagged ‘Diet’

Like we needed a reason…A new study finally explains why Dark Chocolate is good for your Heath!! The study, released by Louisiana State University, tested cocoa powders in the digestive tract and found some microbes in the gut use the dark chocolate to improve heart health. “Good bacteria in the stomach feasts on the chocolate and then produce compounds that are anti-inflammatory cardiovascular tissues that absorb the compounds, improving your heart health.”

The study’s lead researcher, John Finley, elaborates, saying, “When these compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the long-term risk of stroke.” (Via HealthDay)

So go ahead, reach for that extra piece of dark chocolate. But while you’re at it, add some fruit. “Scientists say combining dark chocolate with solid fruits like pomegranates and acai could provide even greater benefits.” Dark chocolate is also full of antioxidants and can help reduce blood pressure, ease depression and control blood sugar. Just make sure your dark chocolate is made up of 70 percent cocoa or more!

Mid-February I was scheduled to have surgery. A few days before the surgery, 3 days to be exact, I came down with a terrible head cold. Two days before surgery I was miserable, the doctor said we would probably have to reschedule if I wasn’t better and I saw no way that was going to happen. However I was very determined not to reschedule, I was stronger than any cold! FIrst thing I did was hit the cold with a strict regiment of Sudafed (the good kind), Robitussin and Tylenol, in addition I was drinking 3-4 16 oz glasses of fluid an hour, plus Airborne several times a day. Since my stomach was fine, I could eat so I consumed the hottest, spiciest food I could get. It was painful but amazingly helpful for the congestion!

Basically I created what I like to call a hostile work environment for whatever bug had taken up residence in my body. To my wonders, it worked. Less than a day and a half after I began my super cold regiment I had surgery with just a tinge of remaining congestion, which surgery seemed to clear up, probably from the oxygen and anaesthesia. From past experience I have no doubt that if I had not been so aggressive my surgery would have been rescheduled. Was it the regiment, a sort lived cold or just dumb luck? Guess I won’t know for sure until the next time I get a cold, though I am in no hurry to find out!

Here are some of the resources I found to help me come up with my cold remedy regiment:

Clear Nose Congestion

While Sudafed works it isn’t always practical, especially at night. Here’s an easier, quicker, and cheaper remedy to relieve sinus pressure: Alternate thrusting your tongue against the roof of your mouth, then pressing between your eyebrows with one finger. Basically you are massaging or rocking the vomer bone in your nasal passage back and forth which helps loosen and breaks up your congestion. It takes about 20 seconds for your congestion to start to drain and you to feel some relief.

Cure a Tickling Throat

A healthy remedy for that tickle in your throat that can cause you to cough and gag. There is a better way to scratch your throat itch other than a lozenges: Scratch your ear! That’s right scratching your ear creates a nerve reflex in your throat that can relieve the tickle causing muscle spasm.

As always, wash your hands, don’t touch your face, drink plenty, get plenty of sleep, exercise, eat healthy; basically live a healthy lifestyle, this is the best way to prevent a cold. But when the inevitable happens, hope these help you as much as they have helped me.

I do not drink Coffee…EVER. Most people I know drink Coffee, they are addicted. Most like to start their day with a hot cup of Joe, stating it helps wake them up and get their day going. Given that Coffee has no nutritional value, is addictive and many negative side-effects a bit extreme just to wake up.

If you have a hard time waking up in the morning and want to avoid Coffee, there is a better way. That is right there is a better way to wake up; eat an Apple. Now if you are regular Coffee drinker this may not work for you right away, but Apples are far more healthy for you and usually less expensive too!

How does it work? Why is this so? Fructose, a natural sugar found in fruits, like apples, provide the energy boost you need. An apple contains approximately 20 carbohydrates, your body uses these carbohydrates for fuel. Apples are high in fiber causing the natural sugar to be absorbed more slowly into the system, avoiding the common let down feeling so common after the initial energy buzz of coffee has worn off. Fiber is filling and will keep you from craving a snack or another cup of coffee. For most people a steaming cup of coffee doubles as breakfast; having an apple instead benefit far more than any boost or benefit of coffee as a diet aid. Apples usually contain less than 100 calories each; having no dietary cholesterol or fat. The combination of fiber and vitamins apples contain may help to lower overall cholesterol meaning better blood flow making you more alert! Apples are a great source of B vitamins, which aids in metabolism; and, beta carotene, a well studied antioxidant known to have a long list of health benefits that include warding off respiratory infections, lowering the risk of certain types of cancers, lowering the risk of heart disease and even protecting against ultraviolet radiation when combined with Vitamin C (also found in apples). Vitamin C is known to help the body fight infections. If there is temptation to grab a multivitamin to go with that cup of java, think of this: if a vitamin were to hold all the vitamins, minerals, and fiber of an apple, it would probably be the size of an apple!

I have been watching what I eat for the past 3-4 months. Over that time I have lost a few and gained a few pounds. Overall my weight is down about 5 pounds. Honestly I am only have about ten pounds of fat to loose, some of that weight needs to be converted. I know this has some people rolling their eyes in disgust. The truth is I could just as easily tell you I was 100 pounds over weight and that I had lost 90 pounds, it doesn’t really matter. The fact is losing weight is difficult no matter what your start weight. The only way to lose weight is the hard way. Yes we all know that 20 year old that can shed 20 pounds in a week, that isn’t normal and they will pay for it when they are 40!

I need to say that again. The only way to lose weight is the hard way. You see it is simple math, (there go those eye rolls again!), our bodies are pretty simple machines when you ignore all the complexity. Our metabolism burns so many calories everyday regardless of our activity, if we are not doing much that is all we need to take in to “maintain” our weight. If you want to lose weight, then you need to either take in less or burn off more. You now know the secret of ALL weight loss programs, minus the expensive meals, books, DVD’s, rich spokes people who have personal Chef’s and trainers, just the facts. Now if you want to pay me money for this, if that will help motivate you then by all means, show me the money! You can send it to me through the Donation Button at the top of the Right menu column.

So don’t be fooled into screwing up your metabolism with a cabbage diet or all steak, miracle pills, or well you get the idea. It’s time to quit fooling yourself into thinking there is an easier way, do the work, control your inclination to put food in your mouth and suck it up!

Your current height, weight, and age doesn’t matter, so keep it simple. One secret, if you are hungry, drink water, our bodies can’t discern between hunger and thirst, that might help. Stick to the following schedule and you WILL lose weight.

Men

Eat 1800 Calories a Day

Example Schedule:

Breakfast:
Eat 500 calories
(When you wake up)

Lunch:
Eat 600 calories
(During your lunch break)

Dinner:
Eat 700 calories
(At least 3 hours before bedtime)

Women

Eat 1500 Calories a Day

Example Schedule:

Breakfast:
Eat 400 calories
(When you wake up)

Lunch:
Eat 500 calories
(During your lunch break)

Dinner:
Eat 600 calories
(At least 3 hours before bedtime)

Results:
Will vary but you should lose about 1 lb per week…or about 52 lbs per year!!

What do you do if you eat more than this each day? You guessed it…Exercise. Get on the bike or treadmill but remember working off the extra calories is hard work!

For example: Running for 30 minutes at 5 MPH will only burn off around 380 calories, sounds good until you try to run at 5 mph for 30 minutes!! Don’t believe me, calculate it for yourself.

Remember…if this were easy, everyone would be skinny. And if you think this was helpful or if you feel it will help you stick to the program, donate!!

This Halloween support the local Treat Strike as a way of not eating candy and junk food. Everyone love Halloween candy but does the candy really love you? (even though Halloween isn’t a real holiday) Halloween begins the Holiday season which brings with it a plethora of foods and goodies that are anything but helpful to your training or your waistline. Moderation is the key, however, when it comes to sweets there is a certain addictive quality which makes our bodies crave more and more. Anyone who has cut sugar and sweets from their diet for a time and then had some can attest to this. So perhaps this season you can start out right by supporting the Treats and respecting their Strike!

At some point in our lives we all have to watch our weight. I was blessed with a great metabolism and could literally eat anything for most of my life. Time, work and life have slowly changed that and in doing so changed how I view food. For some people this is a struggle they have for most of their life. It is also a problem that women struggle with more than men due to the way our bodies differ. Regardless of when or how you begin to “watch your weight” or what your motivation is, the struggle is the same for all of us.

I for one do not diet. Mostly I do not think it is necessary unless there are underlying medical conditions like diabetes. By diet, I mean eating special foods or eliminating certain foods (aside from junk food). I do believe in portion control, something most of us know nothing about. We eat like Lions, meaning we gorge ourselves until we can not eat any more, for guys this is often a rite of passage. Women do this too, the proof (sorry ladies) is easiest seen in pregnant women who love to tell everyone they are eating for two, even though the second person is the size of a quarter…

Often we eat when we are thirsty because we cannot tell the difference between thirst and hunger. A good tip is to have a glass of water the next time you are hunger and then wait a little bit, you might just forget you are hungry! So those are my big tips, drink water and eat smaller portions.

Since I have never had a weight problem and do not consider myself an expert I thought it a good idea to include a different perspective. Enter, Marina Kamen. I have never met Marina, though I have exchanged a few emails with her manager and found her video interview a refreshing perspective. Marina is a normal person. What I mean by that is she isn’t so rich that she has people cook for her, take care of her kids, clean her house, etc. She is normal, like us. She has also overcome a weight problem and stayed in incredible shape. But don’t take my word for it listen her, here, this is one of three segments but it says a lot I think everyone can relate to.

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dt3C1IPcTg[/tube]

Refreshing, no? This is why I do not diet, plus life is to short to feel guilty all the time! It boils down to the basics: Eat less, burn more. Eat to live, instead of living to eat. Weight control is just basic math, addition (eating) and subtraction (exercise). SO don’t only practice your Martial Arts at the Dojo, practice at home too! Those are my thoughts for now, hope you found something useful! Let me know if you did.

We live in an instant gratification world where we rarely have to wait for anything, so why should weight loss be any different? For those who want instant results they are prone to believe anything, hence the success of Crazy Diets that promise fast results. Want to shed some extra pounds quickly? Bad idea for your health but you may get the figure you need for that special event or date. To many of us look for short term gains. Short term gains usually are very costly in the long term. Look at the economy! Dieting is no different. Any diet that promises instant, quick or fast results is probably a bad idea. Remember the Cabbage diet? Or the Steak diet? Nothing to the extreme is a good thing. True dieting takes time, commitment and desire, often they also require you change the way you view hunger and food. Do you eat to live or live to eat? The answer is important to understanding yourself and finding a way to manage your weight.

At some point most of us live to eat. The reasons are plentiful why we do this, age, boredom, stress, complacency, excuses, self-pity, frustration, or simply because you love to! Did you notice how most of the reasons in that list were… negative? When we are involved in something we enjoy we tend to forget we are hungry. Funny isn’t it? Most hunger stems from two things, the first is boredom/stress the second is dehydration. You see the human body cannot (has a hard time) distinguish between hunger and thrist. So your first step should be to have a glass of water the next time you feel you *have to* eat something. If you are still hungry (15-20 minutes later) then you probably should eat something.

Moderation. We have all heard ‘everything in moderation’ and while there is some truth to that it seems, well like a load of garbage. Yes, yes I understand how it intended but how do people use it? People use it as an excuse for that next candy bar or piece of cake. “Well I am only having a little…” which often turns into a relative statement. The piece of cake was small “relative to the entire cake”! What I am saying is that moderation statement can to often be used as an excuse to ‘cheat’. How quickly would we attain things in life if everything was done in moderation? That 1500 mile drive might take 5 days! How long would it take you to get your Black Belt?! Life is filled with excess, we work to much and play to hard, but think about what you remember? Do you remember the moderate times or the extreme times? Do you remember that refreshing 1 mile run or do you remember that sense of exhaustion and triumph from your first 7 mile run? We humans live for those extreme moments. But there is safety to consider. Yes it is extreme to base jump without a parachute but also incredible stupid and short sighted! If we are going to get into shape we want to push our limits without causing damage that will prevent us from continuing. As a martial artist our training teaches us to push our limits, to go farther and do more then we thought we were capable of, getting in shape is no different. Yes I am for safety and I am still vehemently opposed to fast/fad/crazy diet techniques but let us keep the whole moderation thing in check. Can an alcoholic moderate their way to sobriety, one drink a day Johnnie! Similarly, is it so any easy to stop at one Oreo when there is a whole bag sitting there? For many the answer is no, because two or three is still considered moderation. The question is why? For many people, myself included, it is because we never learned portion control. Our access to food is to easy, to convenient. We are very fortunate but that fortune has to some extent turned into a problem.

Health before moderation. Like the ‘Common Cold’, there is no ‘Miracle’ diet that will help you transform your body. If there were we would all be athletes, fitness instructors, and swimsuit models! Some of us are fortunate to be born with good genes that predispose us to “thinness” some are not. Regardless of your body shape or size there is your health to consider. The first thing you need to do is get the magazine images out of your head, that is not real and not realistic for normal people (all not normal people should seek a different blog, this blog is for normal people with lives). People tend to put the cart before the horse, they are concerned with the image in the mirror, they should be concerned with how they feel. Perhaps that is because we use the term “Getting into Shape”. First set a non-weight specific goal for yourself, like run a mile or climb 5 flights of stairs without getting winded. If you do this the weight will take care of itself. Watching your weight will lead to overeating, you will get discouraged and go back to your old ways doing this, you will set yourself up to fail. Often when you start working out you will gain weight. Yes, because your body has a memory and when you increase your activity and decrease your eating your body thinks…”Oh My God! We aren’t getting enough to meet the demand!!” That is the game plan but your body doesn’t get it right away. You are also prone to retain water at first again because your body thinks there is a need. After a few days or more your body will realize you have enough food and water and go back to doing its job and stop interfering.

Wow, I’ve gone off track here but hopefully it has been beneficial. Back to Fad diets. In case you still aren’t convinced… Using Fad diets can actually make you gain weight. Read that last paragraph again, that’s right because your body thinks you are starving and will want to store up some fat in case it happens again. Moreover fad diets tend to mess up your metabolism. Certain fad diets can have adverse effects on almost every organ in your body, especially your heart and nervous system. Why? Because many starve your body of the nutrients it gets from a normal, well balanced diet. Fad diets can lead to nutritional imbalances (like anemia, etc.), Electrolyte disorders, increased risk of disease, adverse effects on the nervous system, metabolism, etc.. For those of you who repeatedly turn to fad diets your oscillating weight (repetitive cycles of weight gain and weight loss followed by weight gain and) usually has a negative impact on overall longterm health. Literature shows a 70% increase risk of heart disease and negative effect on long-term metabolism. Women are also at risk of osteoporosis through lower intake of dietary calcium. Frequent events of oscillating weight can have similar effects as eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia. The way to avert these negative health effect is *duration*. You have to stick to it and improve your health (and in the process your weight) for the duration. No moderation there!

The science behind Fad diets are pretty simple, they are usually centered on increased fat and protein consumption while significantly reducing or completely cutting out carbohydrates. The lack or reduced carbohydrates bring about rapid weight loss. This rapid weight reduction is due to the loss of water in stored glycogen is only temporary. Your fats are still present and when you stop the fad diet, your body regains the water it lost. Weight is put back on as fast as it was lost. We need carbohydrates as they are a major source of energy for work. Fad diets seek to remove that source so your body will start using stored fat, breaking it down. This sounds like a great way to get rid of excess fat but it is not. Without carbohydrates fats cannot be completely oxidized and put to work for your body.

Another unspoken danger of fad diets is muscle loss. When you starve (even perceived) your body the last thing it consumes is your fat. If you are not actively making muscle that means that your body will consume muscle before fat! In a previous article I spoke to the importance of creating muscle to burn fat. Building muscle will turn consumption more quickly to the fat you wish to lose. Here is where that word moderation comes into play. You need to get your body adjusted to the new life style you are creating. You do not want to throw your body into shock! Ease into at a reasonable pace, moderate your progress in an honest fashion to keep yourself moving forward. For many I highly recommend seeking professional help in the form of a good Person Trainer…or Sensei!

Keep reading and as always… Train Hard, Stay Safe and Have Fun!

Warning! Before starting a diet you should first have a complete medical examination (check-up), and according to the results, we follow a diet and exercise plan that meets our needs.

When you go to the grocery store and stand in the cereal isle you can’t help but think…I must be crazy! Well you just might be right but not because of the ridiculously high price of cereal or the low nutritional value of most cereals or even the sugar content. No it turns out you/we might actually be crazy! You see on February 19, 1906 William Kellogg established the Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Company, selling breakfast cereals. But you might be crazy because he originally developed as a health food for psychiatric patients!! Something to think about the next time you hear…a balanced breakfast!